Comments on: Marley to Lassie in 7 days – How to Be the Center of Your Dog’s Universe

By: Christine Scott

Christine Scott — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 17:52:11 +0000

Hi. I have 2 dogs and would like to start the Lassie training. Can I use a clicker in the 2 dog scenario? If I clcik when one of them is doing the correct beavior, will the other think I am rewarding her behavior too? I am afraid that when I click for one dog doing something good, the other dog may be doing something not so good and now I have inadvertently reinforced her bad behavior.

By: Grisha

Grisha — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 18:13:26 +0000

Hi Sally,

1. At home, just use a verbal marker with Ozzie, like “Yes.” Use that whenever you would click. Always pair it with food or toys, etc., just like the clicker.

2. Slowly get Tipper used to the clicker, so you can eventually train Ozzie with the clicker at home. Tipper might be afraid of it because it’s one of the only noises she can hear. Here’s an article on what to do when dogs are afraid of the clicker and you want them to get used to it.

Good luck!

By: sally marquis

sally marquis — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 18:05:49 +0000

Hi.
I have two dogs: Ozzie, who has just started basic manners, and Tipper, who is a 10 year old almost deaf/blind spaniel. Here’s my challenge: Tipper is terrified of the clicker. Whenever I use it, he panics. Otherwise, he’ll do anything for a treat, except when he hears the clicker. I’ve tried treating with the clicker, but he is absolutely dead set against coming near that sound. He’ll run away with tail down and not return for quite some time when he hears it. This behavior makes training Ozzie using a clicker impossible when Tipper is anywhere near us. What I’m doing is to separate and train, but this makes consistent training as you suggest impossible. Any ideas for dealing with this? And for dealing with two dogs? Thanks!

By: Lori

Lori — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 14:39:02 +0000

OMG after only one session Zoloft is laying down and staying for a treat. I have moved the treat farther away and made him wait a few seconds longer before he gets it.
also he will now drop his slobbery toy for me to throw again instead of running away with it.

Yeah click and treat!

Looking forward to solving the jumping issue though I have heard that it’s just part of being a portuguese water dog. hope we can modify this behavior before the November rains come.

By: Grisha

Grisha — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:00:58 +0000

Great job, Jennifer. It sounds like you’re well on your way to Lassie-dom.

By: Jennifer and Mari

Jennifer and Mari — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 02:29:31 +0000

Lassie Training Day 6 and 7. Overall, I love Lassie Training and will continue giving treats in intervals when Mari looks at me. While Mari isn’t exactly Lassie yet, her heeling has improved about 60%. That’s a lot for a week! The other day in a book store a woman exclaimed “what a nice, well behaved dog.” LOLOLOL. No one haaaas ever said that to us before. Next stop: Dream Dog training.

By: Jennifer and Mari

Jennifer and Mari — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 02:53:43 +0000

Lassie Training Day 5. All is well again in Lassie-town. We had two nice walks today and Mari continues to improve her heeling. Started to wean off the treats a bit.

By: Jennifer and Mari

Jennifer and Mari — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 06:47:11 +0000

Lassie Training Day 4. Day 4 put a strain on this neighborhood of Lassie-town. It was the first day of doing Lassie Training and me working away from home. Our morning walk went ok. And she got a mid-day walk with the dog walker. But on our evening walk, Mari was hyper and distracted. I was distracted (…and maybe hyper…you’d have to ask Mari). Lots of pulling on the leash despite the Lassie treats. Then we encounter the biggest distraction ever: two neighborhood white dogs that make Mari go crazy…she likes them; she really likes them. So 3/4 way through the walk, I ended up throwing in the towel and making her wear the gentle leader nose harnass the rest of the way.

Still feeling good about the exercise. But in terms of this experiment, should we repeat day 4? In any event, I’m not really feeling like weaning off treats yet.

By: Jennifer and Mari

Jennifer and Mari — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 02:12:56 +0000

Lassie Training Day 3. Still haven’t totally captured the magic of indoor lassie training, but all in all am liking it. I feel like we have bonded more over the last few days. Wish I had done this when I first got her. She seems less hyper too, which is lovely.

By: Jennifer and Mari

Jennifer and Mari — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 23:39:23 +0000

Lassie Training Day 2. Again noticing benefit on our walks. Today, even at times during high-distraction areas (i.e., the pet store), Mari was more attentive, mellower, and willing to heal more than usual. Working on Lassie Training at home remains more of a challenge for us, especially since Mari is very food-motivated. Once Mari knows I have access to food, she is very attentive, looking at me constantly, and sometimes whining. And there are places (i.e. the kitchen) where she always has looked at me, and I didn’t feel like these looks were reward worthy. (Sorry, Mari!). So, I’ve tried to be discerning and only reward her when she looks at me without begging for a treat. Alas, this hasn’t yielded many indoor treats.

By: Jennifer and Mari

Jennifer and Mari — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 04:16:37 +0000

Lassie Training Day 1. We tried doing this while out on our walks (I have a high-energy dog and no fenced yard, so we walk A LOT) and noticed an immediate difference. Mari was suddenly healing! Yay! Ok…so she wasn’t healing the whole while and she was still prone to distractions (seeing other people and other dogs), but healing even at intervals without her Gentle Leader lead is new for us. Around the house, I didn’t notice her looking at me much but have been rewarding when I can.

By: Ann

Ann — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 02:55:04 +0000

Day 4 (fri) & 5 (sat):
Friday morning was great. Obi kept on looking at me for about 3 blocks on our morning walk. In fact he would barely stop looking at me. It was kind of fun and i kept laughing because when he was looking up at me he looked like he was smiling and prancing. He just looked very happy. The remainder of the day walks weren’t quite on the same level but I do feel like he is back to paying more attention to me. It was a little easier to get his attention when he wasn’t too distracted.
On Saturday I felt again like he was paying more attention to me. Still a little hard to get his attention when he gets super distracted (like a cat or scent). But he did actually walk by a cat (with a much prompting and treating) so I am very happy with that! And it really feels like he is focused on me. Even just when walking – he seems to be following my lead and when i say, “this way.”, he seems to be responding a little more quickly.
On both days I have still been clicking and treating all looks/pay attentions. Have not weaned off treats yet.

By: Ann

Ann — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 17:31:51 +0000

Day 3 – Thurs. Was a little better – think he is paying a bit more attention again. I tried using non-food reward – letting him go check out whatever he was focused on. When he looked at me I gave the “go ahead. check it out”. But then I remembered the problem I had with this when I was using it earlier. I was practicing the “Say please protocal/premack” principal”. We were practicing it and he seemed to be getting it but then he started doing a quick glance at me (ok), then a quick turn around and take off after whatever it was he was focused on, with me barely attached to the other end of the leash. (not ok). Kind of like, “ok, see, i’m looking at you. Bye, Vroom!”. That’s when I started to use touches or sits instead. He tends not to do that, especially with touch.
But overall, I do think he is a little more focused. Though not ready to wean off treats yet.

By: Grisha

Grisha — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 18:31:31 +0000

Good plan with not weaning off of the treats yet. You’ll want to keep rewarding a lot until you have the behavior where you want it, then start weaning off of the treats. Permission to go back to sniff can also be a good reward, sometimes better than steak!

By: Ann

Ann — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:15:25 +0000

Day 2 – Wed. Slightly better. But when very distracted/sniffy doesn’t look at me even when I call his name. Did start to treat even when he turned a little. Will continue today as Day 2 – don’t think we’re ready to wean off the treats yet. And, I’m using pretty high value treats – Steak bits and/or hot dogs for high distractions and dried lamb lung & freeze dried liver.
(p.s. Tuesday he was with my boyfriend most of day and he took him on most of walks so i didn’t count that day as day 2.)

By: Grisha

Grisha — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 01:28:13 +0000

That sounds good, to do the practice first to get him in the groove. I’d also look at the value of your treats. Bits of low-fat string cheese compete better with the environment than kibble, for example. Doing it before breakfast versus after also helps, or playing fetch for 10 minutes before you leave the yard can also take the edge off. Good luck!

By: Ann

Ann — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:42:35 +0000

Day 1 (again) Monday: So far kind of same. Looking at me a little but not a lot. Does seem aware of me (if I say ,”Let’s go”, “over here”, he comes – except in case of cat smell or actual cat.) Just click and treat everytime he does look at me. Am going to try some in yard practice before our next walks to get him “in the groove”.

By: Grisha

Grisha — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:05:59 +0000

Good luck tonight! Hope for the best, but don’t feel too let down if he’s not ready for it yet. There’s a big jump in the distraction level from regular walks to being in the training center. Extra-tasty treats do make that choice easier for them!

If he loses focus during class, you can always switch back to the Lassie work and skip what the class is working on. And we have visual barriers there, too, if you need them to make his choices easier.

By: Dana B

Dana B — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:00:34 +0000

I’ve been stuck at days 3/4 but introducing him to more distracting environment, he’s very food motivated so heavy praises he doesn’t hold much value for (at least that’s what what my impression has been!). I tried at our training sess, more distracting walking/ running routes, and at the dog park. not an amazing improvement, but he is focusing on me a lot more during our walks (even our potty breaks now too and not just cats!) — I’d love to get him to focus on me during training classes, he forgets I’m there, but tonight I plan on upping greatly the value of treats I have and hopefully get him to listen better.

By: Grisha

Grisha — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:47:52 +0000

Hi Ann,

Since you are having a set-back from being gone, a repeat of day 1 is a pretty good idea. Let me know how it goes!